Aunty Lee's Delights

Singaporean chef-sleuth makes debut

August 29, 2013

Culinary mystery lovers will enjoy a trip to the Orient with Ovidia Yu's "Aunty Lee's Delights," the debut of Singaporean chef/sleuth Aunty Lee who finds that "nothing makes her happier than a murder" to solve. (William Morrow)

When murder strikes as the body of a woman washes up on nearby beach and a patroness of her cafe turns up missing, the intrepid cook steps in to investigate. Aunty Lee is governed by a philosophy which dictates that she 'feels responsible for the people I feed."

The crafty old girl grooms the inexperienced rookie commissioner on his first homicide, plying him with culinary delicacies while unofficially directing the investigation.

Article Photos

With cunning and charm, she treats her readers to such pearls of wisdom as "people ought to go through the ideas they carried around in their heads as regularly as they turned out their store cupboards."

In discarding ideas that have grown stale, Aunty Lee cracks the case, restores harmony to her Singaporean neighborhood, and helps a same-sex couple plan their wedding.

The reader cannot help but cheer on this clever chef though one may experience extreme hunger pangs while reading the delicious descriptions of the cuisine of Singapore.